Respects paid to Father Dermott Donnelly at moving…

Respects paid to Father Dermott Donnelly at moving Newcastle funeral

Thousands of people have paid their respects to Father Dermott Donnelly at a moving Requiem Mass held at St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle today.

Fr Dermott died on July 8, 2022, aged 55, following a serious illness. He had recently celebrated 30 years of service to his parish and community after being ordained a Priest on June 27, 1992.

On Friday people came together to pay their respects to Fr Dermott and give thanks for his service to his faith and the positive impact he had on the lives of thousands of young people. In a tribute to Fr Dermott, Homilist Rt Rev. Seamus Cunningham, Bishop Emeritus of Hexham and Newcastle, said: "Some people talk a lot and do very little, Dermott said little but did a lot."

He described him as "always himself" with a "spirit of generosity" and a " winning smile that melted hearts" which he inherited from his mum, Anne Donnelly . Addressing Anne, he said: " You must have been so proud of him on that day [he was ordained], but be prouder still today."

Over 2,000 people watched the service live, which was streamed on YouTube. And hundreds also attended the cathedral and alternative spaces organised by the church where people could pay their respects.

The congregation heard about the work Fr Dermott did to help young people, including establishing the Youth Ministry Team (YMT) and the Youth Village in Consett, a outreach programme aimed at introducing disadvantaged youngsters to the Catholic Church.

At least 20,000 young people benefitted every year from the work of the Youth Ministry Team (YMT).

Rt Rev. Cunningham added: "We are still finding it hard to register that this is not just a bad dream from which we would like to awaken. We recognise that our sadness is only a shadow of sorrow felt by you, Anne, his mother, and his brothers and sisters and extended family."

The service concluded with an emotional speech by his brother Declan Donnelly, who spoke about his childhood with his brother growing up in Cruddas Park, in Newcastle's West End, as well as Fr Dermott's dedication to his faith and helping young people.

Dec said: "We were brought up a stone's throw away from here, up the road in St. Michael’s Parish in Cruddas Park, big up St. Michael’s, where we shared a three bedroomed house. Four boys in one room, three girls in the other and mam and dad in the smallest room in the middle of us two to stop us fighting.

“Dermott and I, being the youngest boys, were assigned to the bottom bunk beds and on the occasions where my five or six year old overactive imagination created monsters under the bed or vampires in the closet I would run out of my bed and jump into Dermott’s bunk and he would calm me down in the middle of the night with stories that he invented like Mousey Brown, the not-at-all famous mouse detective.

“He was very calm, very sensitive and very protective of us all.”

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